Color photographs, which are now widespread, have become more and more rapidly and easily obtained owing to progress of both light-sensitive materials themselves and processing techniques. Particularly in the field of color prints, production that complies with a variety of purposes has been practiced owing to the development of a centralization processing system based on a production point, called a color lab, which has high-speed printers and large-size processors for mass production (large-volume processing), and a dispersion processing system using small-size printer processors, which are called mini-lab and are set up at the front of shops. In recent years, light-sensitive materials using a high silver chloride emulsion, and processing methods therefor, have been put to practical use, so that color prints have become more rapidly and more easily obtained.
Further, recently color prints have been provided using digital image data formed by reading a negative or positive image by means of a scanner. By changing image information into a digital form, such corrections as gradation retouching, cover printing, and introduction of a letter or character at the time of production of postcards, can be done on the monitor of a computer, without a lith film. Consequently, this contributes to improvement in productivity and quality of the color print. Further, it is also possible to receive image data via the Internet and prepare a color print using the image data. Such a system is expected to be more widespread in the future. In order to obtain a color print using digital image data, a scanning exposure has been carried out by one pixel using a light source, such as a cathode ray (CRT) and a laser, in place of a conventional surface exposure through a negative film.
As to rapid processing, U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,878 discloses a method of processing a color photographic light-sensitive material containing a silver halide emulsion having a high silver chloride content, with a color developer substantially free from sulfurous acid ions and benzyl alcohol.